Fedwire Briefs

Apr 11, 1999

Records officers form group

Federal records officers from 45 agencies last week formed a new interagency group through which they aim to have more of an influence on government information management policies, including electronic recordkeeping. The Federal Information and Records Managers Council plans to advise Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Office of Management and Budget and other agencies that set information policy about how their proposals will affect preservation of government documents and data.

WEB EXTRA: For the full story, go to www.fcw.com/extra.

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GSA awards third satellite contract

The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service late last month awarded a $50 million contract to Dulles Networking Associates Inc. for governmentwide satellite communications products and services. DNA will provide low-Earth-orbit satellite technology that, among other applications, may be used with Global Positioning Systems to determine the location of agencies' mobile assets anywhere in the world, a GSA spokeswoman said. In February, FTS awarded two similar contracts to Hughes Global Services Inc. and John Tidrow & Associates Inc.

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Lee to replace OMB's DeSeve

The Office of Management and Budget last week named top procurement official Deidre Lee as acting deputy director of management. Lee, who was named administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in July 1998, will serve in both capacities during OMB's search for a permanent replacement, according to an OMB spokeswoman. The decision comes the week after G. Edward DeSeve resigned from the position, following more than a year of waiting to be approved for the position by the Senate. DeSeve is now with the consulting company KPMG LLP in Washington, D.C.

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DOE suspends classified computers

The Energy Department has shut down classified computers at its Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories while the labs improve security measures. These measures include making it physically impossible to transfer files from classified to unclassified computers and requiring two people to authorize the copying of unclassified files that are stored on classified computers.

The April 2 order by DOE Secretary Bill Richardson stems from the firing of a Los Alamos computer scientist suspected of transmitting nuclear weapons secrets to China a decade ago and an audit that found poor security safeguards.

Democrats will vote on an appropriations package to reopen all the federal agencies shuttered during the partial shutdown, but the lack of wall funding will likely means the measure won't get a vote in the Senate.